Wednesday, September 26, 2012

NWG 2012 - Game 4 and Conclusion

So coming into the last game of the tournament I was on 40pts, which was
acceptable on 3 games only, and given the scores of the other top
players, I might still be able to break podium if I play a solid last
game, depending on the results of some other games of course. For this
last trial I was paired up with Brian Stack and his Space Wolves. He had
a slightly different list to the norm, but it was pretty solid. The
last mission was Annihilation with a Pitched Battle deployment. For
secondary I got Breakthrough, which meant I had to move a scoring unit
off of Brian's table edge. Of course given that that unit is then out of
the game I had to do this right, so that would take some planning, or
so I thought. Can't remember Brian's secondary, but his list can be seen
roughly below.

I'm a litte sketchy on the specifics as it has been awhile now
since the tournament, particularly when it comes to the Wolf Guard. But I
think I got it right. The Wolf Priest was his Warlord but I can't
remember either of our traits. For powers he got Prescience and I think
Scrier's Gaze. I got Prescience and the overwatch one. Brian won the
roll-off for sides and so would be getting Arjac's boys donw without
Warp Quake up more than likely. He deployed everything while I had just
the Ravens in reserve. For Grand Strategy I gave both Dreadknights and
the Paladins re-roll 1's to wound.

Regarding the deployment diagram below; the Wolves look like a
mess. There was a multi-storey ruin, and he has threes units in there,
one on top of the other, which is hard to see in the diagrams.

Turn 1

I attempted to sieze but failed even on the re-roll. Arjac's Drop
Pod landed right next to Draigo and his boys, who were ready for a
fight. The Crusader moved up to the ruins also. The Rune Priest has put
up Prescience on the ML/LC
Long Fangs, and they were the first to fire, doing a wound to
Dreadknight 2. The other squad fired at Dreadknight 1, and they also did
a wound. The Crusader opened on Dreadknight 1 also but covered saved
him from any damage, and Arjac's unit pumped shots into Draigo's unit,
but thankfully I'd place Draigo so he was the closest no matter where
the Pod landed, so he shrugged off the damage.

In my turn Coteaz cast Prescience on the Paladins and then led the
advance, or maybe not as he only rolled snake eyes for his terrain roll.
The Rhinos and Knights moved up quickly though and the other Strike
Sqaud disembarked. Draigo and his boys moved around Arjac's unit. In
shooting the Strikes fired at the Land Raider but failed to hurt it. The
Dreadknights were just able to clip two Long Fangs, killing them both
on the second attempt. The Paladins shot at Arjac's unit, killing two,
and then charging in. Arjac issued a challenge and a hammer accepted.
Draigo and the other Paladins wiped the Grey Hunters, but Arjac survived
on a wound and stayed put while killing the Paladin he was duelling.

Turn 2

To start the turn the Crusader moved into the ruins and immobolized
itself. The cargo inside got out and prepared. Prescience went up on
the same Long Fangs again, and then everything started shooting. The
other Long Fang unit started by shooting Dreadknight 2 and killing him
with aid from the Razorback. The Prescienced Long Fangs then split fire,
putting both Lascannons into the Rhino and the Missiles into Coteaz
unit. The Rhino lost two Hull Points. Coteaz sqaud lost only one man.
The Wolf Guard and Wolf Priest opened up on Dreadknight 1and killed him,
while the Crusader killed the two Psycannons from the Strike squad. In
combat Arjac challenged again and the second hammer stepped up, dying
once again, but killing Arjac in the process.

Inmy turn both Ravens came on, one going for the Land Raider and
the other going after the Long Fangs. Draigo and his squad advanced
while both Rhinos retreated, one Immobolizing itself in the water.
Coteaz puts up both powers on the 8 man Strike Sqaud, who advanced for LOS.
They then shot at the Wolf Guard, killing two. The Raven next to them
did the same but used the Machine Spirit to fire the Multi-Melta at the
Land Raider instead; it killed a Wolf Guard and blew up the Land Raider.
The rest fired at the Long Fangs, killing some, with both Mindstrikes
missing the Rune Priest.

Turn 3

The Rune Priest repeated his casting pattern as the Razorback and
Wolf Guard advanced. The Prescienced Long Fangs managed to Stun the
Storm Raven on front of them. The rest of the shooting from that side
went into Draigo, who tanked it all bar a single split fire Missile
which took out the fleeing Rhino. Between shooting and a charge the Wolf
Guard killed all but two Strikes who fled, but not before killing the
remaining Wolf Guard, leaving the Priest on his own.

I passed my Fortitude test with the Raven but the Rune Priest
stopped it, meaning the Raven has to move exactly 18" straight forward
this turn. It ended up exactly an inch on front of the ruins, and I left
a sigh of relief. The other one flew over to join it. Coteaz repeated
his castings from last turn and advanced. The two Strikes rallied and
moved on the Wolf Priest as Draigo continued his advance. This time the
Ravens were more fortunate with the missiles, killing the Priest, and
also his unit of Long Fangs. All other shooting failed to kill though.

Turn 4

The Space Wolves were quickly running out of options. The last unit
of Grey Hunter disembarked from the Razorback, and the Wolf Priest went
for another go at the two remaining Strikes. Long Fang shooting saw a
few members of Coteaz sqaud go down, while the rest focused on the
Ravens to no avail. The Wolf Priest charged and fought to a stalemate.

Coteaz put up Prescience on his own unit and moved to charge the
Priest. Raven 1 moved on the Rhino that had been hiding on the flank for
the whole game, while the other dropped to hover mode and back up
enough to not have to worry about assault. Draigo and his squad
advanced, ready to strike this turn. Both Ravens proved dead on the
money this turn, collectively destroying the Rhino, destroying the gun
on the Razorback, and killing 3 Long Fangs, forcing the last to run
away. Coteaz squad charged the Wolf Priest who took a wound but held.
Draigo on the other hand charged in and watched two Plasma Gunners kill
themselves, before taking a wound, and then annihilating the squad.

Turn 5

With nothing left and realising my secondary, Brian moved his
remaining men to try and shoot down the Paladins; they did a wound but
that was it. The Wolf Priest finally died.

The Ravens moved back to finish off the job, while Draigo and his
men made a break for it. Coteaz and his sqaud moved out and the lone
Hammer from the other squad got into the Rhino for safety. Coteaz squad
blew up the Drop Pod while the Ravens killed the last Long Fang and the
Razorback. Draigo ran, but only got an inch.

The roll would decide a lot as if the game ended I'd win but without secondary it wouldn't be enough.

Turn 6

Thankfully for me the game continued. The Grey Hunter tried to stop
Draigo again but only killed a Paladin. Then the Storm Raven came in
and finished them off while Draigo and co' left the table.

Conclusions

Well I'm relieved. I thought the Prescienced Long Fangs might do a bit more to my Ravens but it was not to be. Those single MM
shots worked wonders too. I don't think I made any mistakes in this
game, except perhaps a few turns of shooting rather than running with
Draigo; that nearly cost me secondary there at the end. First game where
the Dreadknights didn't kill loads of things, but they did soak up an
unmerciful amount of firepower instead. In the end I won primary by a
mile, secondary, and VPs by a mile, netting me a third 20-0 victory.

Below is two pictures from the game as well, just for fun, taken by God-know-who.

And so that was it for my NWG 2012 experience. It was a wild
weekend to say the least, and to say I was pleased with 60 points after
only getting to play 3 games is an understatement. That feeling was to
improve also when I was awarded the Best Painted award, topped off by
finding out I managed 4th place. Dark Harlistar army came 1st, followed
by a Blood Angels/Armoured Tank Company alliance in 2nd, and then the
Orks I played in the second last round in 3rd and only 1 point higher
than me. So close to podium, but ah well, I will certainly not complain
about the outcome, especially given the circumstances.

So that was that, I will definitely be back next year, though after the new FAQs I reckon Draigo will be on the shelf for now. It's onto Moocon 6 next with Purifiers replacing the Paladins. See you then.